If you check out October 2006, you will see that Dave posted notes on the 2004 Rockpile. The 2005 can be summarized in much the same way. Deep raspberry in color; black cherry, vanilla, and mocha on the nose, cherry, blackberry, dark chocolate, with a bit of spice and leather on the palate, and the dark fruit and leather on the finish. Dave’s comments then still hold true with this one… a very good Zin but about $10 over priced (I paid $35 for this one).

A recent transplant to Northern Nevada, I decided to try something from a regional winery. Nevada City is just a ways “over the hill” from here so their wines are plentiful in our area. This one is a blend of 40% Zin, 22% Petite Syrah, 15% Syrah, 10% Cab, 8% Sangiovese, and 5% Cab Franc. The wine is named after one of the early gold towns of the 1850s. Cask 204 appears to be their way of saying 2004.  With a lot of 1860 cases, this wine tops at 14.7%.

The color is a deep plum with a slightly clear rim – it is a 2004 afterall. The nose is vibrant with plum, cherry, and clove. On the palate the cherry and plum grow, the spice is joined with a bit of pepper with a hint of red licorice. The finish is nice and spicy with soft tannins.

My first venture into regional wines and I would have to say this one is a winner.  At only $12 this one begs for repeat purchase.  There is also a Cask 205 (you guessed it, 2005) with a different blend that sounds promising; haven’t located that one yet.  When I got this one, I also picked up a Syrah of theirs so stand by for a future post on that one.

A few friends, some great food and some great Pinots. I’ve been down on Pinots lately. I think that is because I haven’t had any that I cared for. All of these were good and food friendly.

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Very dark color with lots of black cherry and a touch of vanilla aromas. A nice mixture of black cherry and smoky leather. This wine has a very smooth finish.

I wish that I had some more of this one.